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Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Jeffrey Gibson, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, 2019
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Jeffrey Gibson, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, 2019
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Jeffrey Gibson, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, 2019
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Jeffrey Gibson, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, 2019
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Jeffrey Gibson, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, 2019

Jeffrey Gibson USA, b. 1972

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, 2019
Acrylic on canvas, glass beads and artificial sinew inset into custom wood frame
78 x 78 in
198.1 x 198.1 cm
7286

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2019 MacArthur Genius Grant award winner Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, USA) blends the aesthetic heritages of Native America, rave culture, and punk rock, breathing new life into the traditions of...
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2019 MacArthur Genius Grant award winner Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, USA) blends the aesthetic heritages of Native America, rave culture, and punk rock, breathing new life into the traditions of Modernist Abstraction. In his paintings, sculptures, garments, performances and films, indigenous craftwork and ancient abstract references coalesce to form metaphysical bridges between 20th century art movements like Geometric Abstraction, Neo-Dada and Pop Art, and contemporary fields of inquiry such as Relational Aesthetics, Institutional Critique and Identity Politics.

This painting debuted in 2019 in CAN YOU FEEL IT, Gibson's first solo exhibition at Kavi Gupta. Inspired by four years in the mid-1990s when Gibson called Chicago home, the exhibition’s title echoes the classic house jam of the same name by Chicago-born DJ Larry Fine, a.k.a. Mr. Fingers. The lyric referenced in the work, “Before the devil knows you’re dead,” is attributed to an Irish saying: "May you be in heaven a full half-hour before the devil knows you're dead."

Says Gibson, “This was a period when house music was so welcoming and inclusive, and being in Chicago was very optimistic. There was a space carved out for people of different backgrounds coming together and celebrating each other, letting everything go and having a good time. It felt hopeful. That was a big critical experience for me in terms of thinking about how to respond to a challenging larger culture.”
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Exhibitions

2019 Can You Feel it, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
Spring 2023, Language in Times of Miscommunication at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
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835 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, IL 60607

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215 E. Buffalo St. #219 New Buffalo, MI 49117

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